Follow the Moon's Cycle

Archive for August, 2013

The new Moon takes place in darkness yet begins a new cycle of growth and experience. This Moon is the gate to the Jewish new year, Rosh Hoshannah. It begins a

period of contemplation and remembrance, a time to take stock of what has happened during the past year, and to measure what our words and actions have created. The opportunity for new beginnings is always available us. The spring equinox is the zodiacal, solar New Year, celebrated in many places. January 1st, an acknowledgement of the return of the Sun to the Northern hemisphere has become a world wide New Year. And each of us has a ‘birthday’ to celebrate the return of the Sun to the celestial location of our birth. Each month the new Moon gives us a new start, or we can celebrate the ‘Moon return’ of the lovely lady each month as she revisits the sign and degree when we were born.

The traditional spiral of the holiday challah is symbolic of the journey inward we take at the time of the new Moon. And, having reached a center place, we spiral outward as the Moon fills and faces the Sun’s light.

Virgo, the constellation where the Sun and Moon reside on this day, is a harvest queen. The fruits of the earth are gathered and counted, analyzed and divided into what will be eaten during the winter months, and what will be seeds for the next season. Perhaps this is why people with lots of Virgo energy in their charts are called ‘discriminating, analytical and detail oriented.’

For those of you in the Southern hemisphere, this will be the time of planting those seeds from last fall’s harvest!

Opposite the Sun and New Moon is Chiron, the healer, who promises that from pain we can learn the remedy. He is in the sign of Pisces. Because Pisces and Virgo are opposite signs, he offers the reminder that all is one and that the boundaries and categories so dear to Virgo’s heart are for convenience, not for permanence. Chiron offers his intuitive compassion to the Sun and Moon in their analytical search for the truth.

Jupiter is in an easygoing relationship (sextile) to the Moon/Sun pair. He is giving his blessing to their union. Begin a new project today with the knowledge that Jupiter’s expansive optimism will help you through the rough spots.

Muin the Vine from my tile series on the Moon

Muin is the Moon of the grape vine in the Celtic Moon cycle of Robert Graves. The Grapes are ripening now, ready for their transformation into the mysteries of wine. There is always a hidden aspect to the new Moon period because we cannot see her. Is there something we don’t expect, which will appear by the time of the full Moon? The Sabian Symbol for this new Moon is: ‘ An aristocratic family tree.’ What are the deep roots of our ancestral origins? As we lean upon our treasures of technology have we overlooked what the past has to offer each of us? We are cosmic dust, like the stars and can draw upon these universal gifts at any time.

No Moon, No Sleep

In day time,

I hum my tunes,

a bee in the flowers.

At night, when I awake,

I am afraid.

The dark familiar

room is my coffin.

My husband is a mystery,

lying next to me.

My dog is mortal.

And I am mortal as well.

I stir under the covers.

I think of the computer,

a friendly flower

to visit in solace.

I have lost track

of my mother.

She is busy

with her marriage

to the Sun.

In a few days,

She will be a child,

and I will be able

to sleep

in her bright arms.

Sarah Fuhro

March 30, 2011

Sarah Fuhro
Keeping our Ancient Wisdom Alive
The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present. To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.

This image of the Salmon in the pool of Segais is my inspiration as we approach the full Moon in Coll. The card is from the very beautiful Druid Animal Oracle, (Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm) illustrated by William Worthington. The Salmon lives in the Pool of Segais and eats the hazelnuts which fall from one of the nine hazel trees (Coll) which surround the pool. Salmon is revered as the Oldest Animal. He represents wisdom, inspiration and rejuvenation. Despite all obstacles, the salmon returns to her place of birth to mate and lay eggs. Like the Salmon this may be a time to return to our original source in order to find the eternal youthfulness we have forgotten.

The Moon of Coll

This twisting, is it ivy?

or the heavy grape on the vine?

No, it’s Coll, the Moon of Hazel,

come to grapple with our soul.

Hazel witches for water,

this Moon finds our dark wet center.

Hazel nourishes the salmon

who lies in the deep and silent pool.

–Sarah Fuhro

With Neil Young’s haunting Deep Forbidden Lake we can feel the approach of seasonal change and our own depth.

This is the second full Moon in the sign of Aquarius this year. Last month, the full Moon of Holly (Tinne) was in the first degree of Aquarius and Leo. This Moon on August 20will be in the last degrees of this constellation of new consciousness. The Sabian Symbols for this chart are quite startling in their combined message of transformation. The Sun at 28° of Leo: ‘A Mermaid emerges from the ocean waves ready for rebirth in human form.’ While the Moon: ‘ A Butterfly emerging from a chrysalis’ seems to echo this theme. Many of us find ourselves at a turning point. Imagine yourself as a newly human mermaid or freshly unfolded butterfly—how will you test your new form?

The signs of Leo and Aquarius provide us with the opportunity to walk the tight rope between full and radiant expression of the Self (Leo) and immersion in the social structure we have created (Aquarius), and the impetus to create a human community based upon a more loving and inclusive vision.

Both Sun and Moon have companions in their monthly face off. Ceres (Earth mother), Mercury, who has a message, and Vesta who reminds us we must each find our own truth in order to truly be ‘at home’ trail the Sun. Mercury’s message may be to the new human arisen from the sea. Will she remind us that we are not alone on the planet?

The Moon is rocked in the arms of Neptune whose Sabian Symbol ‘A council of ancestors is seen implementing the efforts of a young leader’ gives the freshly minted butterfly of the Moon’s Sabian Symbol the support she needs. It may be time to look to the past to find a way to sustain life for humans on earth.

Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter are arranged in a T-square. This period of time is marked by the square between Uranus and Pluto, which reverberates with other powerful times of change in the world. In the 1960’s we had a Pluto Uranus conjunction, and shortly before World War II, another very tumultuous period, we had the last square between these two outer planets. While Pluto (who loves to dig deep) and Uranus who likes to start over, are in the square dance over several years, Jupiter’s presence is a shorter interval. Will he in true Jupiter form; expand the revolutionary nature of the Uranus Pluto square or will he lighten up the intensity of the square’s action (Uranus) and reaction (Pluto)?

The Moon has been very beautiful as she sets on the Western horizon during this waxing period.

The Wisdom Tradition evolved over the centuries to address our deepest human needs. Sarah Fuhro is a practitioner of its many forms; including Astrology, Tarot, Flower Essences and Druidry. In addition to personal consultations, Sarah teaches workshops and private classes, offering both clients and students knowledge powerfully rooted in the past, presented in the language of the present. To learn more, please visit www.sarahfuhro.com.

In Celtic lore, Hazel nuts are the food of the Salmon of Wisdom who dwells in the pool of Segais. The Salmon is one of the forms taken by Fintan, a combination of shaman and Noah called ‘the White Ancient.’ When Fintan becomes Salmon he is known as the ‘oldest animal.’ The Hazel nut represents concentrated wisdom, poetic wisdom and inspiration. Hazel knowledge includes measurement, surveying, and the art of dowsing for underground water sources. Coll, the hazel tree is the traditional source of ‘witching wands’ used by dowsers to find water. This knowledge of length and breadth of the land is considered basic training for the Druid to be a mediator, especially in disputes over property and boundaries. Below is a picture of the Long Man of Wilmington, a huge figure cut in the chalk hills of southern England, who holds staves in his hands, just as the Fool in the Tarot deck carries his measuring rod over his shoulder. Measurement as a sacred task was also part of the Egyptian priests who measured the height of the Nile in order to judge the time of planting and celebration. This Moon cycle of Coll is a time for the lonely search for your own source of wisdom and creative gifts, and the opportunity to put then to use. It is a time to take stock of your resources with a plan to offer them to your community.

This new Moon in Coll takes place in the season of Lughnasadh, a celebration of bread, the first harvest of the year. It’s a time to remember the sacrifice of Tailtu, the foster mother of Lugh, who died after she cleared Ireland for agriculture. Before the time of settled farm life, people migrated with the animals they hunted, and ate the wild harvest of the land. It may have been at this time the zodiac, a parade of animals developed. It is a traditional time of marriages, but it also has a tinge of sorrow to it. Perhaps this comes with the knowledge that winter approaches, or that the grain, which has grown in the Sun and rain all season is now cut down. Or perhaps the hint of melancholy associated with this festival comes from a memory of an older, migratory way of life replaced by the settled life of the farmer.

Here is the chart for this new Moon which offers us the opportunity to begin a fresh cycle within a fire festival (Lughnasadh) and close to the height of the summer’s heat in the fixed and fiery sign of Leo! Leo rules the heart and the spine in our body. Love and courage are gifts of this season.

The Sabian Symbol for the degree of Sun and Moon at this seed moment is: ‘A pageant, with its spectacular floats, moves along a street crowded with cheering people.’ What will you celebrate at this harvest festival? What seeds planted in another season are now bearing fruit? Leo is about creativity and expression from the heart. Where do you find your greatest source of inspiration to share in the harvest season?

Jupiter, the lord of expansiveness and optimism is paired with Pallas Athena. The two of them look across the sky to Pluto the guardian of dark secrets. When Pluto is probed he releases what has long been held beneath notice. With an opposition from Jupiter and Pallas Athena, and a square to Uranus, the revolutionary, Pluto may release information of a surprising nature. We have had a spate of news items about information this summer. The trial of Bradley Manning, the hunt for Edward Snowden are a reminder that secrets find their way to the surface when Pluto and Jupiter and Uranus are in relationship.

At the new Moon, Uranus, electric planet of sudden change makes a trine to Sun and Moon. Expect the unexpected during this period!

Two earthy asteroids accompany the royal pair. Vesta, goddess of the hearth and the sacred rites of the home, and Ceres the earth mother and harvest queen stand on either side. They are the guardians of this new cycle and all that will unfold over the next twenty eight days. Will we invest (Vesta) in our home planet (Ceres)? Can we feel gratitude for the abundant nourishment around us or will greed turn us further from our roots in the earth?

Another asteroid, Juno, associated with marriage, is opposite Sun and Moon in the sign of Aquarius. Aquarius is a sign of new social forms and structures. With Juno in this revolutionary sign, the Supreme Court reversed the federal laws on same sex marriage. The everyday effects of this change will continue and deepen as Juno guides us through Aquarius. How will your own viewpoint of marriage develop with Sun and Moon focused on this asteroid?

Leo is a sign of joy and creative expression. Take this gift of a new Moon into your heart and vision of the world.

The 2014 Version of the Lunar Calendar (Dedicated to the Goddess in her Many Forms) is now ready to order. It is filled with Moon lore, poetry and art. You can find out all about this wonderful Lunar resource at http://www.thelunapress.com.